The war in Ukraine and the opening of the European market to Ukrainian goods are factors that have drawn attention to the threats facing the agriculture of the European Union and highlighted areas where the EU lacks regulation, stated Polish Minister of Agriculture Czesław Siekierski at the EU Council meeting on agriculture and fisheries (Agrifish) on Monday.
Assessing the impact of nearly 1000 days of war in Ukraine on the situation in the EU and Polish agriculture, Siekierski recalled that the EU liberalized market access in 2022 to support the Ukrainian economy and introduced "full opening for goods from Ukraine."
"This has significantly disrupted some sensitive markets and led to protests from farmers," he was quoted by pap.pl.
At the same time, according to Siekierski, this experience has shown the EU what threats are associated with the excessive influx of goods from Ukraine and which areas require additional rules and actions at the European level.
The Polish minister expressed regret that a portion of the funds that Ukraine received due to the opening of the European market primarily went to large agribusiness companies instead of contributing to Ukraine's national budget or supporting small Ukrainian producers.